2 Arrested in Shooting Death of Man at L.A. Valley College

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Two men were arrested Sunday in connection with the shooting death of a man who was found in a parking lot at Los Angeles Valley College, authorities said.

Authorities investigate a fatal shooting that occurred in a parking lot at Los Angeles Valley College on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014. (Credit: KTLA)

The shooting was reported around 7:30 p.m. Saturday on the 5800 block of Fulton Avenue (map) in Valley Glen, according to a news release issued that night by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“Detectives have learned that Los Angeles Police Department, Van Nuys Division officers, responded to a ‘shots fired call.’ Upon their arrival, they discovered the victim outside of a vehicle in the parking lot suffering from multiple gunshot wounds,” according to the statement.

The man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said. He was identified as Ricardo Zetino, 31, of Tujunga.

No classes or campus activities were going on when the victim was discovered, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The shooting “was the result of a drug deal ‘rip-off,'” the department said in a subsequent news release issued Sunday night, adding that “the choice of the college parking lot was random.”

A search warrant was executed by sheriff’s homicide investigators at an apartment in San Jacinto, where Raheen Taylor, 31, and Derrick Wilson, 25, were arrested without incident.

Two revolvers were recovered at the location, “along with other ballistic evidence,” according to the news release. “An undetermined amount of illegal drugs were also seized, as well as the suspects’ vehicle, which is believed to have been used during the murder.”

Taylor and Wilson were being held in the Los Angeles County jail system after being booked at the Inmate Reception Center. Both are scheduled to be arraigned at Van Nuys Superior Court on Tuesday.

While detectives investigated the fatal shooting Saturday, a female driver crashed into a sheriff’s department patrol cruiser that was blocking the intersection of Burbank Boulevard and Ethel Avenue (map), according to a sergeant with the LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division.

The deputy inside the cruiser was transported to a local hospital after complaining of pain, the sergeant said.

The unidentified female driver was arrested at the scene and was expected to be booked on suspicion of felony DUI, authorities said.

Anyone with information about the deadly shooting was urged to contact the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. People wishing to remain anonymous were asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.